An Ingredient That Could Help You Eat Less

December 11, 2014 7:19 AM

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It sounds like something out of a junky Facebook advertisement, but it's actually peer-reviewed research: Scientists from Imperial College London and the University of Glasgow have developed a food additive that helps people feel full earlier. And, according to their study, the first in humans, it could help overweight people prevent additional weight gain and, in an unanticipated finding, also lose heart-damaging abdominal fat.

The additive, inulin-propionate ester (IPE), is made from propionate, a natural byproduct of the stomach's fermentation of dietary fiber. It is this chemical reaction that stimulates release of satiety hormones -- meaning hormones that signal to the brain that the body is full -- such as hormones pe...